There are many things you can do to maintain good health but at its core is a well-balanced, nutritious diet, healthy physical activity and if you smoke, you should quit smoking. In a healthy diet, you would have plenty of high-quality proteins, fats that are good for your heart, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and water to stay hydrated. At the same time, reducing your consumption of processed foods, alcohol, and saturated fats is imperative. This will allow your body to stay healthy, prevent disease and keep your body weight at an optimum level.

How Diet Helps with Your Overall Health

When you eat foods that contain the proper nutrients, your everyday lifestyle will benefit. Much of the cellular damage caused by the environment will be reduced. In addition, your tissue can be rebuilt, and your immune system boosted when you eat the right types of protein. Fats and carbohydrates are also important because they keep you energised, and the vitamins and minerals help to support the various processes within the body. As an example, antioxidants include vitamins A, C, and E and they help your cellular structure by protecting from toxins. B vitamins allow you to get the energy from the foods you consume. In order to have strong bones, calcium and phosphorus are an important part of your diet. The transmission of nerve signals is enhanced through sodium and potassium. As you can see, getting a healthy diet is imperative for all of your bodily functions.

How Diet Helps with Weight Control

Along with eating the right types of high-quality foods, quantity is also something to consider. In order to keep your weight at a steady level, you must take in the same number of calories that you are burning. If you take in additional calories, you will gain weight and those extra calories are converted to fat. The accumulation of fat makes it more likely for health problems to occur, such as high blood pressure, respiratory problems, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Creating a meal plan that is healthy and doesn't include excess calories allows you to feel better and get the most out of life, creating and sourcing ideas can start with healthy takeout food to help inspire you.

How Diet Helps with Disease Prevention

Although obesity can lead to disease, it isn't the only problem that can do so. If you have too much of a certain nutrient or too little of another, health issues are more likely to occur. Calcium is a good example, because not getting enough calcium can make it more likely for you to have weak, porous bones, something known as osteoporosis. Cardiovascular disease is more likely to occur if you are taking in too much saturated fat, and not getting the fruits and vegetables you need could increase cancer risks. One option to help you maintain a healthy diet is to get foods from various sources, so you have the variety of nutrients your body needs.

Are You Getting 5 Fruits and Vegetables Daily?

An important factor to consider for your overall health is getting enough fruits and vegetables in your diet. They provide fibre, vitamins and minerals. Generally speaking about one third of the food you eat every day should be made up of fruits and vegetables. The general recommendation is to include a minimum of 5 portions of fruits and vegetables and to vary the options you choose. It doesn't matter if you get them fresh, frozen, dried, canned, or even if you juice your fruits and vegetables, getting at least five portions every day has been shown to lower heart disease, stroke, and certain cancer risks. If you wonder how to get five portions in every day, it isn't difficult. A portion consist of:

• Fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and vegetables - 80 g daily
• Dried fruit (consumed at mealtimes) - 30 g
• Fruit smoothies or juice (limited to one portion daily due to higher sugar content) - 150 mL
• You can also eat an apple, pear, banana, or similar sized fruit and consider it one portion.
• Additional Things to Consider When Eating a Healthy Diet

A healthy diet can be used to promote good health and to make changes in your health that occur gradually. If you aren't accustomed to eating that way, you may want to start slowly. If you are accustomed to drinking sugary drinks, you can substitute water. You can also use a low-fat dairy product rather than a full fat product. Lean meats can be selected rather than fatty cuts and you can use whole grains rather than refined grains, as that increases fibre and decreases unhealthy fat intake. Choosing fresh fruits and vegetables helps to cut down on sodium and snacking on something crunchy, such as an apple or carrots is healthier compared to chips.